A horrific cross-country trek waits in 'The Last of Us'

Updated 5:34 pm, Monday, June 24, 2013

Gamers will develop a tense emotional bond with the story and characters in the survival horror game, "The Last of Us."

Gamers will develop a tense emotional bond with the story and characters in the survival horror game, "The Last of Us."

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Joel and Ellie, the main characters in “The Last of Us,” are in constant danger as they traverse an American landscape scarred by pandemic and social breakdown.

Joel and Ellie, the main characters in “The Last of Us,” are in constant danger as they traverse an American landscape scarred by pandemic and social breakdown.

Photo: Courtesy Sony Computer Entertainment

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A horrific cross-country trek waits in 'The Last of Us'

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A 14-year-old girl and a fatalistic Texas smuggler turned protector — armed with a few shells of 9 mm ammo and some masking tape — must embark on a cross-country hike through lovely Pandemic Land U.S.A. in an epic that will capture your imagination and heart.

Sony Computer Entertainment's “The Last of Us” is one of those rare games where technology and story meld into an amazing mix of graphic beauty, intense game play and storytelling that leaves you flush with emotion and satisfaction.

Twenty years after a devastating fungal pandemic, you play as plague survivor Joel, who is faced with a life-altering scenario. Not since the plague hit his small Texas town, resulting in horrifying consequences, has Joel faced such a situation.

When teenage sparkplug Ellie is dropped into his world, this haggard middle-aged man must reacquaint himself with the vulnerable realities of caring.

You will feel Joel's struggle as he tries to reconcile what he left behind in Texas with the morally ambiguous survivor he has become.

Ellie, on the other hand, shines as some kind of plague-era pixie punk whose disposition broadens every aspect of game play. Imagine every character Ellen Page has ever played in a movie, rolled into one, and you have Ellie.

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Her character conveys a kind of optimism that alters some of the darker and scarier moments of the game into something less terrorizing.

As they travel across the plague-stricken countryside and into crumbling cities, their conversations will enthrall you. I loved listening to Ellie mourn the loss of culture as they wander into an abandoned music shop. She notes how sad it is no one will ever listen to the LPs again.

The banter between Joel and Ellie range from emotional frailty to witty comebacks, and you begin looking forward to the pauses in action so you can listen to them talk.

From a heavy-handed military obsessed with keeping the last remnants of the American populace under its control in quarantined safe zones to the terrifying infected individuals, the action is nerve-wracking.

Human enemies work together against you, whether in flanking movements or long-range sniping, and the infected just swarm you in a frightening loud mass of screams, wild gunfire and guttural flesh-tearing.

The most dangerous of the infected are the clickers, fully mutated humans who hunt by sound. So stealth is a huge part of the game. The style of stealth play in “The Last of Us” is more than just sneaking up on something and stabbing it. You can throw objects to distract adversaries so you can move past them, or if you have the stick skill and nerve for it, slowly creep right under their noses.

Supplies are scarce so you cannot afford to blast your way through the game. One heavy firefight can deplete your ammo in a matter of minutes. In nearly every confrontation, you will need to adapt other weapons into your combat style.

The graphics are eerily lifelike. Game developer Naughty Dog really pushes the PlayStation 3 to its graphical limits. You don't often hear a lot about the game engine Havok, but it built a beautiful world in “The Last of Us.”

Overall, it is the story that makes this the best game of 2013 — so far.

The ending will leave you ... well, once you finish, try to get through the rest of the day without feeling a little bit empty and wanting more.